The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to gasifiers. More particularly, the disclosed subject matter relates to a system and method for heating a gasifier.
Gasification systems generally include a process injector used to supply a gasification fuel, such as an organic feedstock, into a gasifier along with oxygen and steam to generate a syngas. As a preliminary step, a mixture of a preheat fuel and air is combusted to preheat the gasifier to an elevated temperature before initiating gasification of the feedstock in the gasifier. Unfortunately, the elevated temperature achievable during preheat may be substantially limited by the use of air and low pressures (e.g., atmospheric pressure). As a result of this temperature limit, if the process injector cannot be installed quickly enough after preheat, then the gasifier temperature may drop below a temperature threshold suitable to start gasification of the feedstock. In the event of such excessive cooling, the preheat process would need to be repeated to raise the gasifier temperature to the elevated temperature. As a result of this delay, valuable time may be lost for gasifying the feedstock, which in turn may result in lost production of chemicals, lost generation of electricity, and so forth. The use of air and low pressures (e.g., atmospheric pressure) also may substantially limit the rate of temperature increase and the overall time required to complete the final stages of preheat. Again, this delay can result in significant losses in gasification production.